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My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States
"My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States" is Episode 5 in Season 18. It originally aired on March 16, 2001. Synopsis The episode begins with LeVar exploring one of the greatest places in the world: the United States of America. It is a place full of exciting sites, sounds and people. It is so big, it is about 10 times the size of Egypt, 25 times the size of Japan, and almost 75 times the size of Greece. Since it is so large, it can look and feel different when you travel from one place to another. It has rain forests, deserts, bayous, and even volcanoes. The most famous ones are found on the islands of Hawaii. Lee Salonga reads "Mauna Loa", a poem about one of them from the title book. Even though the United States is so big, it's easy to go from place to place. That's one reason LeVar loves hosting Reading Rainbow. Over the past many years, he and the crew have traveled thousands of miles across the USA visiting lots of the states in it. He asks a group of kids if they can name all 50 of them. The 50 states in our country arranged alphabetically are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. We are just a few of the 300 million people who live in the USA. When you spread everyone across there, it makes a difference in the foods we eat, the houses we live in, and the words we use. For example, you may call it a hot dog. But in other parts of the country, they call it a frankfurter or a foot-long. You can call it a paper bag, but others call it a sack or a poke. LeVar asks some kids what they call certain everyday things from where they come from. It's amazing that we use many words for the same thing. It is time for a word from a pair of twins from the twin cities of Minnesota, St. Paul and Minneapolis. Minnesota is known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Milk is its state drink. It is also know for the great Mall of America when they have an indoor roller coaster, Ferris wheel, and aquarium. It even has its own state muffin: blueberry. Because the USA is so big, it spans six time zones. For example, if it was 3pm in Hawaii, it would be 4pm in Alaska. It would also be 5pm in the Pacific time zone, 6pm Mountain time, 7pm Central time and 8pm Eastern time. It's a five-hour difference between Hawaii and the east coast. In various parts of the northeast coast, there are lots of sites and sounds to enjoy at night. Car experts Tom and Ray Magliozzi narrate "New England Lighthouse", a poem about what a lighthouse looks like from the author's point of view. If you live in a city, you can run to the grocery store for some milk. But when you live in a rural area like the southwest, you'd have to drive for miles to get to the nearest store. Where you live depends on how you adapt to the environment in the US. In Montana, Erica loves living on one of the many ranches there. She talks about how she spends her days living in one of its many rural areas. What she likes best is being around animals. To her, going to school in the country is easier than doing so in a big city. At least a thousand miles from Montana lays the big city of New York. A boy from Queens tells his life story of what it's like for to live in the big city. His name is Stephen White, and he describes New York City as busy and crowded. Apart from the city noises, it has amazing site and smells. The school he goes to is the Unite Nations International School. Kids from all over the world go there and it houses every grade from kindergarten to high school. His favorite thing to do is go bowling. He even takes French horn lessons and he likes to read. LeVar was raised in California. Since he's traveled across the country with the show, he found that he has a lot in common with kids who live in different states. Now it's time for a word from Washington state. It is known as the Evergreen State. The city of Seattle is home to its computers and the Space Needle. LeVar has another question about the United States. Where can you be if you want to stand in four states at once? Well, it's the four corner states: Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. It's a spectacular part of the country when you travel there. Even if you never leave home, a story or a poem can help you find out what certain places look like, feel like, taste like, and sound like. Nikki Giovanni reads "Knoxville, Tennessee", a poem about how a city is like during the summer. She has also written it herself. Even if you don't get a chance to travel to Tennessee, there are great places that you can visit in your home state. It is now time for a word from Florida, the Sunshine State. There are lots of fun things to do there. It has beaches, theme parks, the everglades, and swamp lands. Its climate is sub-tropical all year long. It is also known for its famous Florida Keys where you can go diving to see coral reefs and swim with dolphins. LeVar tells the viewers that the United States of America is such an incredible country because everything is bound together with a common identity. It's no wonder that we call our country America the Beautiful. The episode ends with views of the United States background with the song of the same name. Review Books *The Scrambled States of America *Tulip Sees America *Celebrate the 50 States! Category:Season 18 Category:Episodes